Greg's otherworldly experience
by manuel chaparro
Summary: Greg is on his way to his parents' home with baby Steven. He's taken Steven away from the fighting and his destiny as a crystal gem. But on his way home, he has an encounter with a supernatural being. (It's not a crossover, but it might resemble Silent hill at some points)


**Chapter1. On the way back home**

With both hands on the steering wheel, Greg Universe watched the road as one of his songs played in the background.  
He sang along softly. His voice, despite the years that had passed, sounded the same as in the tape.

 _"I know I'm not that tall...  
I know I'm not that smart...  
but let me drive my van into your heart,  
let me drive my vain into your heart."_

The lyrics of the song, although silly, were cute and the tune quite catchy. So, it wasn't strange that the only passenger in the van started to enjoy it as well.

"Oh, you like it, little guy?"

A gently smile appeared on Greg's face. He looked for a second at the baby on the passenger seat, sitting on his baby car seat, covered by a fluffy pink blanket. With one of his hands Greg reached for Steven's cheek and caressed it lovingly.

"It was one of your mom's favorites too. I guess you got that from her."

As the blanket had started to slide down, Greg pulled it back on place, making sure Steven didn't get cold.

"Better keep yourself warm, Steven."

On the other side of the windows' glass, dozens of snowy pines passed quickly by as the world outside only seemed to have very few colors: black, blue,white and gray.

"It's just like I remember it. The way home hasn't changed a little bit.  
I actually wanted you to grow up in a different place, but..."

Greg thought about the events that had unfolded days ago. He had never imagined that things with the gems would end so abruptly and on such bad terms. But he still believed he had done the right thing. Steven was his and Rose's son. Even if Garnet and the others were his mother's best friends he couldn't just leave Steven with them. He had the right to live a peaceful life, away from fighting monsters and the true purpose of the gems on earth, and Greg believed he was the only one who could give Steven that.

Returning to his parents' home was the last thing he wanted to do, especially considering his age and the way he had left them so many years ago. Nonetheless he knew them well enough to know that they wouldn't send him away with a baby in his arms. Man...things were going to suck for a while. He could already hear his father scolding him, while his mother complained about how much he had ruined the familiy's reputation. Still he'd have to suck it up, at least until he found a job and enough money to live decently with Steven on his own. After that, he'd surely leave them once more. Surely his parents would be glad he did so too.

All of a sudden, Steven began to cry.

"Woah, what is it, Steven? You don't like the song anymore?"

He lowered the volume of the music and reached for his son once more.

"What is it? What is it? Are you hungry?"

A new smell in the van let him know that food wasn't really what Steven needed, but rather the complete opposite.

"Oh, you want me to change your diaper. Ok. Let me just find a nice spot to stop."

After parking, Greg had started carrying out the task at hand, changing little Steven, when he was abruptly surprised by what seemed to be a police chase.

From behind the sound of a police siren started to fade in as the blue and red lights cut through the dimness caused by the fog that had started to roll down the mountain.  
The sound of a motorbike and a jeep racing each other quickly caught up to Greg's parked van. The road so far had been devoid of other cars, so seeing one was quite unusual, but even more unusual was the speed of the vehicle. It was going too fast for a snowy road on the mountain's side. It was a miracle it had not caused an accident already. No wonder the police was after him.

The moment when the chase reached the van was gone in less than a second. Greg, holding the dirty diaper in his hand, could only see a glimpse of the people involved in the event unfolding before his eye. He couldn't make out any faces, but inside the jeep he saw a little girl and a man with a leather jacket. A police woman on a motorbike was yelling at them to pull over, but the man didn't look like he noticed her. He acted as if there was nothing outside his window.

"There are some really weird people out there."

Greg finished changing Steven and got back to driving.

"Let's hope that's the only exciting thing that happens in this trip."

He threw the dirty diaper with a swing of his hand to the back of the van, which landed cleanly in a black plastic bag with a few others.

Back on the road, the trip had returned to its former calm atmosphere. The only thing different from before was a thick fog that forced Greg to turn the lights on. Greg would have almost forgotten about the reckless driver had it not been because, in the distance, the distinctive blue and red of the siren were to be seen again. This time though, it looked like the chase was over and the motorbike had come to a stop.

Considering how long ago he had seen them, it was astonishing that the police woman had to chase the guy for so long. Greg slowed down and started to lean to the free side of the road, expecting to see someone soon enough, but all he found was the motorbike lying on the floor.

"What the...?"

The sight was truly unusual. No, unusual was an understatement. There was nothing about it that could be described as normal. The motorbike was lying down while the siren continued its endless motion, illuminating the fog that surrounded it. The rear wheel of the bike still moved and there was a trace of paint and scattered pieces of the motorbike on the ground, but there was no tracks of the police woman.  
The jeep was a few meters ahead. It looked like it had crashed against one of the sides of the road. The driver and passenger door's were wide open, but there was no one inside. The security belts of both were still fastened. It was almost as if all the people involved had vanished abruptly leaving their vehicles at the mercy of the speed they had built up.

Even if some would have got off their car to check what had happened, Greg was not stupid enough to do so. The situation had problem written all over it and he was not on his own. He had to take care of Steven. He had to bring to a safe place.

Paying attention not to drive over the wreckage of the cars, Greg drove slowly and carefully enough to avoid them. But from the corner of his eye he saw a human figure in the fog get close to the car. He hit the breaks immediately, but it still felt as if he hit something.  
He jumped out of the car in an instant and said to Steven he'd be back in a second. He went to the front of the car expecting to see someone hurt, but...he found no one.

"Wha...?" 

"What is this baby?  
Is this even a baby?"

The sound of a girly voice snapped Greg out of his confusion. He saw in the direction the voice came from and saw a young girl with short black hair holding the blankets in which Steven was wrapped. Steven started to cry. Outside was too cold for him.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing! Are you the girl that was in the car?"

Greg started to walk around the van towards the girl. Meanwhile the girl reached for Steven's belly and over his clothes grabbed his gem, pulling it so hard that it wasn't weird for the baby to cry in pain.

"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MY SON!?"

Without doubting it for even a second, Greg lunged forward, thinking he'd get catch the girl. But his hand met nothing but very dense fog. The girl was like smoke.

"What in heav...

STEVEN!"

The baby seat was empty. Its seat belt was still fastened just like the ones of the jeep. Greg quickly looked around for the girl and Steven. He just found the pink blanket of his son lying on the ground.

"STEVEN!"

For a moment he heard nothing but his own echo. His breath became continuous puffs of white steam as he listened carefully for any reply of his baby.  
Then a pinke light started to twinkle in the distance and his baby's cry became more audible.

"Steven!"

He ran towards the light and found the girl. She was trying to take Rose's gem out of Steven once again.

"LEAVE MY SON ALONE!"

At the sound of Greg's voice, the girl hugged Steven against her body. Her expression was a sad one, like a child's who is just about to get his favorite new toy taken away.

"No!"

The girl turned around once more and ran into the the fog, disappearing immediatelly.

"WAIT, WHERE ARE YOU TAKING MY SON?"

Greg ran behind her as fast as he could. He didn't think about getting back to the van or calling anyone for help. He couldn't let Steven out of his sight. The pink twinkle of Rose's gem was just ahead of him. It was just a matter of catching up to the girl. He couldn't let her have him. He couldn't let anyone have him. He was his and Rose's son, his only family, his most beloved thing on the world right now.

Greg kept running, but no matter how much he ran, it was almost as if the were always a bit faster than him.

Greg's lungs were burning, his legs were aching in pain, while the heart inside his chest beat so hard it almost like it was about to explode. The strain on his body was too much, but still he couldn't stop, not while Steven was just ahead of him. He just had to try harder.  
The saliva in his mouth dried up and tears of frustration started to appear in the corners of his eyes, his clenched teeth seemed about to break from all the pressure put on them. His body was collapsing, but Steven was there...just there.

"GIVE STEVEN BACK!

STEV...E...n..."

Finally his body could take it no longer.  
Greg blacked out and fell face first on the asphalt. Fresh snow started to fall on top of him. The girl was now nowhere to be seen.

The next thing Greg saw was an hospital room's ceiling.


End file.
